Food for the Journey —

gaskets and hoses

I love my car — really. Well, I’m thankful that I have a car. More than being grateful for the vehicle, I guess what I should say is that I’m thankful for my hubby; indefatigable man that he is. I know this because we have remodelled a house together, built a church together, remodelled another church,…. you get the idea.

Well, about a year ago, he was out of town for a class; he’s a doctoral student. (I think I mentioned that somewhere.) While he was away, he delegated to me the job of purchasing a car. I know, I know, I hear you. But it wasn’t like that. No. Really, it wasn’t. We had looked for weeks – together. He had done the leg work, and wanted me to look the car over. A mechanic, who was a friend, or should I say, used to be a friend, had gleaned the best of two used Hondas and merged them together to create what we hoped would prove to be a hybrid. It was affordable, and it was available — what could be better?

Bill must have forgotten that I know as much about picking a car as I do about football. (I’ve watched it for years, I just don’t get it.)

Our friend had taken a car with a blown engine, and replaced it’s get-up-and-go with the motor from a Honda with a trashed frame — 121,000 on the good frame; 81,000 on the good engine. Such a deal it was. Really it was. I keep telling myself that…

So now, here we are, a year later. Thanks to my husband’s tenacity, and the kindness of our friends (one in particular who is an excellent mechanic — not the other guy), I have a new car. Not the shiny kind. ..

Maybe we’ll paint it.

The new car I refer to is my little Honda. Yes the very same. We now have a new air conditioning system, new brakes, new tires, new head gasket, all new hoses, a flushed radiator, a new lower control arm, new window motors and regulators, a new master cylinder, new fan motor control switch, a working window washer unit, all new spark plugs, new shocks and struts, and the list continues….

I’ve always liked lemonade….. did I say that out loud? I still do — it’s the south….

Not only that, but the “Cash for Klunkers” program didn’t appeal to me. I just can’t see taking our used cars to a dealership, who then would have to destroy them; unable to sell them just to comply with the program. It didn’t seem right to me, or to Bill, that the steel in my little Honda then be sold to Japan or China to build their steel industries, while our American car auctions see a freeze in the market….. didn’t seem right somehow.

So, I’ll drive my little Honda til the wheels fall off. And I’ll be grateful, really grateful, that I have a car, and no car payments. Come to think of it, maybe the first mechanic’s idea of a secondary market wasn’t all that off, after all. All she needed was a little love and tenacity. Those ingredients can fix just about anything.

Even marriages.

How long would you drive your car down the road with all the lights on the dashboard blinking? How far would you get if the temperature gauge pegged itself to “hot,” and steam was coming out of the engine? And yet, many times, we think we can continue travelling blithely through life when the relationships in our lives are sending us glaring signals — yet we wait until the motor seizes to do a tune-up.

If you are in such a place in any relationship in your life, let me make a suggestion to you. Considering the American culture, and the social networks within what we call the “Christian Culture,” only one in four of those who are referred to a counselor actually follow through with seeking one out. Of that 25%, less than half will follow through with pursuing the healing that requires personal change. Knowing the stats on broken and blended families, what does that tell us about the emotional stability of our nation? And our level of actual spiritual maturity?

The inside is more important than the outside. Going through the rebuilding process with my little Honda has taught me that, yet again! It’s made me love her more.